House, SenatePass FY 2013 NDAA

In the face of a presidential
veto threat, the Conference Committee report of the FY 2013 National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, H.R. 4310) was approved by the House
and Senate this week.

The legislation is silent
on the Administration’s request for drastic increases to TRICARE
fees and new Standard and TRICARE-for-Life (TFL) enrollment fees for
retirees. DoD’s request for excessive pharmacy co-pays was
rejected in favor of a House plan authorizing a more modest increase in
TRICARE pharmacy co-pays in 2013, with future increases limited to no
more than the annual percentage increase in the retiree cost-of-living
adjustment (COLA) for 2014 through 2022. Also included is a five-year
pilot program that requires TFL beneficiaries to obtain refills of
maintenance drugs through TRICARE Home Delivery (by mail) for at least
one year.

The bill also authorizes a
commission to study military pay and retirement benefits, which prevents
any reductions to current active duty and current retiree benefits.
Further, the Conference Committee rejected a provision that would have
given the commission the authority to bypass congressional committee and
subcommittee consideration of its recommendations.

Other NDAA Conference
Report provisions include:

Fixing a concurrent receipt
glitch that reduces the monetary benefit for some disabled retirees when
their disability rating is increased;

Authorizing a 1.7 percent
increase for active duty/ Reserve pay;

Requiring a DoD report
on future availability and access to TRICARE Prime throughout theUnited
States;

Requires states to ensure
training received by a veteran while on active duty is taken into
consideration when granting certain certifications and
licenses;

Requiring DoD to report,
after the closure of any overseasU.S.military base, a plan to ensure that a federal agency or
private entity assume responsibility for continued maintenance and
oversight of any cemetery located on the base;

Extending increased BAH rates
and active duty leave rollovers;

Providing $25 million in
additional Impact Aid for schools that educate military children and $5
million for military children with special needs; and

Expanding TRICARE coverage to
include health services for military children with autism.

Sequestration threats
(automatic budget cuts to include DoD’s budget) still remain as
the January 2, 2013, deadline grows closer. In addition, reimbursement
rates for physicians seeing Medicare and TRICARE patients will be
reduced by 27 percent effective January 1, 2013, unless the so-called
“doc fix” is extended or made permanent. The House and
Senate will be back in session on December 27, 2012, in hopes that a
“grand bargain” can agreed to on these issues and other
issues.